The Passion Parameter - Vol. II

【67】Meeting the Walkers

Kate's Mini Cooper was parked in front of the garage, and Tyler's old jeep was right next to it. Everything would be intense from the moment we'd enter the house.

"Are you ready?" I asked Lex.

"As ready as can be."

Bending forward, we exchanged a quick kiss before exiting the car. Lex opened the trunk and helped me take out my suitcase. I harnessed my large tote bag full of gifts and waited until he was ready to go. We walked side by side to the front door, and I did my best to ignore the twisting of my guts.

What if they didn't like Lex? They hadn't liked the one boyfriend I'd introduced them to, and at that time, I hadn't seen any reason as to why. What if there was something about Lex they weren't okay with? Like the fact that he was my boss. Or older than me. Or clearly out of my league. Or—

"Stop overthinking, Andrea," he ordered. We'd reached the door, and I looked away from the pine wreath attached there to meet Lex's calm gaze.

"I need to confess something, in case anything happens in there," I told him with a grave tone.

"What?"

"The bag of potato chips didn't disappear from your cupboard. I ate it and then craftily got rid of the evidence."

He chuckled, amused by the turn this had taken. "You cunning little thing. I thought I was going cra—"

The door opened wide, and behind it, there was my mother, wearing a Mrs. Claus apron.

Holy shit, this is really happening.

Her eyes were sparkling with excitement and went from me to Lex for a moment. The way her eyebrow moved up the first time she saw him was almost comical. I'd probably looked like this the first time I'd seen him too.

"Hi, mom."

"Hi, pollito! Come in! Come in!"

Moving to the side, she let us in, and I dragged my suitcase inside. She gave me a tight hug, and as always, it sent a wave of comfortable joy through me. She smelled like gingerbread and herself. Once she let go of me, I moved further in. It smelled heavenly, and I wondered what she'd prepared for us. When he came in, it was Lex's turn to get a warm greeting embrace.

"I'm so happy you guys could make it," she said, still holding him tightly. "Welcome, Alexander."

"Thanks, Mrs. Walker. We're happy to be here too."

He was a little tense, his arms glued to his side, but at least he'd been warned that my mother was very handsy. "Alright, you can release him now," I told her.

She reluctantly complied and moved away from her hostage. We got out of the way so she could close the door, and she helped us get rid of our coats and scarves.

"I hope the drive was okay," she said.

"Yeah, all good. Barely any traffic when we left Seattle, and a small jam on entering Portland. But it was all good. Lex's car is very nice."

"Any car is nicer than the one you have, Deedee. When are you getting a new one?"

Of course, Lex didn't miss the opportunity to make his dislike of my old Ford known. "I've been telling her the same thing. She needs to get rid of that rolling coffin."

"Rolling coffin sounds about right. Listen to him, pollito."

"Mine still works, I don't need another car for now." She rolled her eyes and turned to Lex for support. He shook his head at me, disapprovingly. "Wait, are you two already ganging up on me? Oh, God... Coming here was a terrible idea."